Do You Want Your Blue Cross Plan to Have Big Market Share?
Recently, I’ve read some news articles on a study talking about how concentrated health insurance markets are in different states. The study, thoughts from important officials and data all lead to one set of conclusions for our state:
Open Enrollment for individual health insurance in Louisiana starts Nov. 1. It ends Dec. 15. This six-week period is much shorter than any previous year, and since the administration has decided to cut off most enrollment advertising, many of our friends and neighbors here who buy their own health insurance are unaware Open Enrollment has changed.
Last week, I took a well-deserved vacation. As I perched on the balcony of a nice condo on a balmy October day, enjoying an amazing view of the Gulf of Mexico and people below swimming, sunning and playing, my phone started going crazy. I mean crazy.
Mike Bertaut joins Jim Engster to discuss the health care plan currently being considered in Congress. The plan would continue with cost sharing payments to health insurance providers.
At its heart, health insurance is a pretty simple business. Instead of running the risk of a medical situation that outstrips your ability to pay for it (and in the healthcare world, that’s a pretty common occurrence), you transfer some or most of that risk to another entity (like Blue Cross).
I would be the first to admit that 2017 has been a very confusing year for people who have to make decisions about health insurance. Much has been made all year long about promise after promise from politicians across the political spectrum (including the president, who threatened to “let Obamacare collapse”) to repeal, replace, amend, tweak, repair, adjust or just plain fix “Obamacare.”
